Arc

A radically changed Antarctica, made temperate by a warming Earth, is the last refuge of humanity. Scientists based at a research station build the first survival colony--one they envision as a future utopia immune from the mistakes of an industrial world. Because wind and water currents isolate the giant landmass, the high-and-dry continent is spared the starvation, disease, radiation and chemical pollution devastating the rest of the planet.
The founders of the colony see no other choice if humanity is to have any chance at long-term survival. Other groups from the doomed world, including genetically altered humans and animals designed to survive the harsh conditions, also make their way to the formerly frozen continent presenting potentially devastating variables to the scientists' plan for their descendants.
The main story takes place over five hundred years after the establishment of the first colonies--the world is known as Arc. Descendants of the original refugees have formed pre-industrial tribal societies: some akin to Medieval Europe or Japan, others as nomadic pastoralists. Jonamiel of Amundsal, a descendant of one of the principal founders, witnesses a kidnapping of two young girls from his nation. The perpetrators are mutant Koblatten whose civilization is dying because their women are now sterile and they need young, healthy females for breeding.
Jonamiel must find a way to save the girls along with children stolen from other friendly human--or semi-human--tribes and ultimately, to save the new world. To do so he needs to find allies from other nations and he must defy his own leaders, who believe other threats facing their country are more important. Jonamiel's even questions the wisdom of the founders' books.
The Antarctic continent is the one place on Earth where little vestige of pre-apocalyptic civilization exists, allowing the founders a blank slate on which to rewrite human history potentially giving them a profound influence over the future world. The founders assume they can avoid the mistakes of the past if they can leave a perfect plan in place, create a stable society, and prevent any future industrialization. But are there any unforeseen possibilities for their descendants--will some problems always plague humanity despite the best planning--what will become of the founders' experiment centuries in the future?